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Friday, April 13, 2012

Bookends

First Day..WDW…Last Day

The trip started on Thursday, the flight through Salt Lake
took from1;10 P.M. at Seattle to almost
1:00 A.M. in Orlando.Getting into bed
about 2:15 Orlando time is not what we planned ( flight delayed) but we had an
interesting encounter on the way.The
pretty young woman beside me was very busy reading what looked almost like a
Bible, but definitely not in English. She had colored pens, little post it
notes and a notebook where she was writing out verses.
After our snack and a little nap,we got
a little acquainted.Ingrid was born in
Norway and about 3 years ago she came to Orlando andhas been working at the Norway exhibit at
WDW.That is whereshe sawSean and it was like love
at first sight.Sean is studying to be a
doctor and Ingrid goes to Salt Lake every two weeks to see him.They are engaged to be married , but not for
at least a year. She is studying to become baptized in the Mormanreligion. That is required before the marriage
can take place in the temple.She was
raised Catholic andher father is not
very happy about her decision. Her mother is fine with it and comes from Norway
at least 3 or 4 times a year to visit.
That is the serious side to the visit.Then she encouraged us to come to her Norway Exhibit for lunch on
Sunday. This is a huge buffet of typical Norwegian foods and since we were on
the dining plan, it would be one of the dinner choices.Done!See you at noonish.
we laid our heads down on soft pillows about 2:15

Where to start:The
lodge has a large cafeteria and nice selection of quick meals.But the best part is the music.The Dixie Land style tape that has been playing
every year includes “His eye is on theSparrow”.I am in the restroom washing my hands when I
hear it for the first time and can you guess if I sing along?What a way to start the day.
How do we get around: There is a shuttle service to all places Disney. Today
while we are waiting for the shuttle I noticesome white streaks in Darrell’s hair.( onlysome of the product he
used this morning). I decide not to mention it.It is not long before a young man also
notices.“ Looks like a bird made a drop
on your head”.He says.Darrell figures out what it really is and I am glad
that I was not the one to mention it.

Where to
go: MGM Studios.
Favorite attraction:Beauty and the
Beast, the play.There is also a fun
3-D Muppets show. Yes, we like the kid stuff. Where to eat:Favorite lunch spot,
Prime Time Café.You enter what looks
like a 50’skitchen.Your waiter calls you “ cousin”and takes you to a table whereyou have your own little black and white TV
that plays little segments of“ I love
Lucy”,” The Donna Reed Show”, “Father Knows Best”… you get the

idea.Silverware is
on the table and you get to set it yourself.
While waiting for our food, I feel the air conditioning a little strong on my
head.I fuss with it a bit.More than once.It is later that Darrell tells me that one
of the waiters was hiding by the next table with a long thin stick and was
poking it in my hair.He ducked when I
turned and I never saw a thing. The atmosphere is very fun.” Did you wash your
hands?”, “Noelbows on the table”, and “ clean your plate
before dessert”.

Where to shop:Downtown Disney has a huge store and we found a few things there, as
well as the best key lime piein
thewhole park.Captain Jack’s restaurant.
There is also a boat dock where we can catch a ride back to our resort,Port Orleans, Riverside.

Return
trip :This is where I get my first shoe
picture.Two young gals are very happy
to pose with me and then ask me if I have seen “Toms”.As a
matter of fact, I thought I was seeing the same lady over and over again.Yes, I have seen TOMS.Not to be confused with Tom Anderson, or
Tommy Hilfigeror Tommy Bahama.Just plain TOMS.For every pairyou buy, a pair is donated to a child in
need.One of the gals said she had two
pair. They are so comfortable .They
cost $40.and up and look like those
thin canvas shoes my mother used to wear.They have them at Nordstrom, but you have to go ona waiting list.

Final stop:The family bar area has a pianist that is
amazing.He appears to be high energy as
he stands up while playing and the piano rocks back and forth.He sings loud and knows how to get the
audience to participate.Some of the
kids start marchingin step.Now we are tired.

Before going to bed I decide what to wear tomorrow. By now I
realize that I could wear just about anything.Today we saw a large family all wearing tie dye shirts. Another group
was not embarrassed to wearbright
turquoise shirts with a large Elmo in front.Many little girls wear their princess gowns. I took several photos (
usually with permission )
think I will wear myred sparkle Minnie
shirt with capris ( so my tattoos won’t show – O that’s right, I am not the one
with tattoos )

End on Day One at Disneyworld.

Day
two: Saturday we always go to the Magic Kingdom because it is open for the most
hours. Why we got there before it opened, I don’t remember. Guess I read the
schedule wrong. But it is fun to watch as a family from the crowd gets to
“wave”with big white Mickey gloves, as
the gates open.
We go to Buz Lightyears three times and I beat Darrell every time.

.I ride the Carousel
alone, twice. We are always moved by the President’s presentation It is a warm day and the crowd is small
until about noon.

This little princess came from South America and her parents were very happy to have me take her picture

Grandma and Grandpa provided Cinderella with her gown ( often the case )

Head to toe Aurora, waiting to board the boat to the Grand Floridian

A
boat rideto the Grand Floridian for
dinner and the monorail back.The GF is
a beautiful hotel with fresh flowers everywhere and this year, a bride and
groom were having a photo shoot.Only
took one picture of them, but it is a great place to people watch.

The Ceiling - four stories high, a domed crystal window

The gardens at Epcot are amazing - huge lemon, tomatoes in the air, all conserving H 2 o

Sunday.Darrell read
Psalm 139.
A new adventure, lunch at the Norway exhibit.This is a fantastic smorgasbord and a character visit. So Darrell and I
got our picture taken with Princess Belle and received a free 8 x 10 and four4 x 6 copies! Many little girls were dressed in their gowns and at the given time, they marched around the room, following all the "real" princesses. Interesting to watch as one little girl was very upset with her food, her parents, her chair...and then along came Snow White. Night and day. But most of the little princesses are very happy and excited.

But the reason we went, was due to Ingrid.When we left her at the airport, she promised to make the reservations
for us and we were not disappointed.We
only saw her briefly, long enough for me to tell her that I had been praying
for her and the big step she is planning to take.I left her my email address, later sent her
the booklet with the book of John, but have not heard from her since.

Monday.I have
forgotten details, it is now the end of March/ April and we went in February. I am trying to win a laptop so I can take it
along with me and make the notes as I go.
The Animal Kingdom has 3 favorite
attractions.The safari ride is the
closest I will ever need to be to a ride in Africa.The bird show is very fun, called “Flights
of Wonder”.It’s a Bug’s Life has a few
surprises I always forget about.That only takes ½ a day, so we have plenty of time to get back to the
hotel and to the airport.

(When I took this photo I had no idea, that the little girl in the blue dress, waiting for the shuttle to the airport, would be sitting right next to me on the plane )

We say goodbye to WDW and are shuttled off to our flight.
Seated beside me, was a beautiful Cinderella.Her other name is Autumn. She and
12 other family membershad been to WDW
for the first time. Also, for Cinderella and herMom, this was the first time on a plane.I was charmed by this little girl, aged 10,
in grade 5 fromSaskatoon, Canada.We visited for a while. In between, she
questioned her mother about all the
activity going on in the plane, with food service and movie options, etc. She said the she and her sister had been to
the “Bibbidibobbidi boutique “.Thatis where you get your hair all styled and sparkled. She looked very
lovely. She said she loved music and math. She also talked about her
siblingsWe nevertalked about the white cane she had, Autumn is blind.